Aaron Golden's Basketball blog

Bulls Miami ShowdownPosted by:
aarongolden | May 20, 2011

Derrick
Rose, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade are all playing in one series!
The three best finishers in the NBA go head to head. Right now
the series is 1-1 and I can tell already this is going to be a roller
coaster series.

Let’s look at Miami- To start, Lebron James has been the brunt of the
Miami offense. He has done a good job so far in getting to the
hole and making big shots during the waning minutes of the game.
Lebron needs to use his versatility to make things happen. He
needs to capitalize on Bull’s turnovers and then convert those
turnovers into points on the other end. Another thing Lebron
needs to do is to make sure his team stays away from those dreaded
scoring droughts. When Lebron isn’t producing he needs to get his
other players involved. Far too often, Miami does not score for
5-10 straight minutes and that allows the other team to bounce back and
then gain momentum. Just yesterday, the big three on Miami went
10.5 minutes without scoring while the Bulls came surging back.
Before you knew it, the Bulls were rolling and then they even got their
crowd into it and that is a great plus for the home team. Next,
Dwyane Wade has to show his presence. He can let Lebron run the
show sometimes but he has to step up and bring what he’s got to the
table. Wade has to break down the defense by attacking the rim
relentlessly. The Bulls are defensive stalwarts, so Wade has to
spread the floor. If Wade can get the Bulls up and moving on D,
he will be able to use his great footwork to get to the paint and
finish. Additionally, Chris Bosh has to win the match up between
him and Boozer. Bosh can’t play a quiet role in this series nor
does he have to score 20 points. Bosh has to clean up the boards
and pull the occasional offensive rebound and get the tip in.
Lastly, Udonis Haslem has to be Miami’s defensive specialist. He
needs to gobble up every board and he just has to outwork Noah.

Now let’s look at the Bulls

Derrick Rose has to take advantage of his matchup against Mike
Bibby. He needs to to get the ball into the paint and make the
Miami defense rotate. Once in the paint, Rose needs to look for
Noah and Boozer to finish down low. Miami will have to pick up
Rose leaving his next teammate open. Rose needs to be aggressive
as well. He needs to lead his team on offense and that’s the
bottom line. Next, Luol Deng has to be another leading offensive
force. Deng has been consistent all year so I honestly think this
won’t be a problem for him. However, he needs to shutdown Lebron
down on defense like he did in game 1. Carlos Boozer and Joakim
Noah have to take advantage of their size. They need to finish
strong in the interior as well as create second chance opportunities.

In the end, either team can win, but I think Miami with send the MVP home.

The Mavericks are BackPosted by:
aarongolden | May 10, 2011

The
Dallas Mavericks are grooving through this years playoffs. They
beat the Blazers and then swept the Lakers. More notably, the
Mavs showed their true capabilities in game 4 against the Lakers, in
which they won by 36 points. This was an embarrassing game for the
Lakers because throughout the game the Mavs bench just exploited
them. Jason Terry scored 32 points and went 9 for 10 not from the
foul line, not from the field but from the three point line! The
Lakers had no answer to Terry’s shot and simply could not close him
out. With this, the game was pretty much over at half time.
To make matters worse, Peja Stojakovic went 6 for 6 from the three
point line. To add, Jose Barea, the small statured guard for the
Mavs, ran circles around the Lakers. Nobody had the foot speed to
keep up with Barea, as he scored 22 points coming off the bench.
And due to so much frustration, the game just got ugly. Lamar
Odom got a cheap shot on Dirk and then Andrew Bynum disgraced him and
his team for a ridiculous foul on Barea.

The Mavs have proved themselves as a formidable team, but will they have enough to get the crown.

Philadelphia 76ers SucceedPosted by:
aarongolden | March 23, 2011

After
trailing the Knicks in the playoff rankings for virtually the whole
season, the 76ers finally became the 6th seed. The 76ers have
shown great potential through the duration of the season and could be a
formidable team come playoff time. The 76ers don’t necessarily
have any great all-stars, but they certainly have some standout players.

First off, Elton Brand, a once fallen player, has reestablished
himself back into the league. With this being his third year on
the sixers, Brand has shown some real improvement. Although not
as good as he once was, Elton Brand has done a good job assimilating to
this team. Brand is an efficient all around player making him a
lead contributor to the team’s success this year. In addition,
Andre Iguodala has been solid all year. He produces nice numbers
in just about every stat and has an extremely high, assist to turnover
ratio. Iguodala’s efficiency on the court also helps make the
sixers a good team. Lastly, the 76ers have very good young
talent. Jrue Holiday and Louis Williams have both played very
well at the point guard position this year. Overall, the sixers
have a bunch of versatile players that mix really well together.
Each player complements the other extremely well and that leads to
their success.

March Madness BracketologyPosted by:
aarongolden | March 17, 2011

The competitive eastern region is going to be interesting.

1st Seed- For the most part, Ohio State should come out triumphant in
this eastern region. Ohio is a great all around team. Jared
Sullinger can do damage down low, Diebler has great range, and Aaron
Craft is an elite defender. Ohio will undoubtedly win the east.

2nd Seed- North Carolina- They will go far, especially with Harrison
Barnes leading the way . However, they could lose an upset game
to the rank 7 Washington. Washington has Isaiah Thomas who has
proven to be an offensive juggernaut all year. If North Carolina
beats Washington , UNC will still have to get by Syracuse a three seed.

3rd Seed- Syracuse has played extremely well all year but when they match up against Ohio the odds of them winning is slim.

4th Seed- Kentucky is again another good team in the conference but Ohio is simply too much to handle in the long run.

Game to watch- Xavier vs Marquette- Marquette should
win this game. Marquette was in a tougher conference so you have
to disregard the ranks. Marquette has also played a top 25 team
14 times this season while Xavier has only played a top 25 team once.

Let me see you Euro StepPosted by:
aarongolden | March 2, 2011

Everyone
knows of basic moves like the crossover, behind the back, through the
legs, but not everyone knows the euro step, also known as the 1,2 step.

It may seem like an easy move at first but there are a lot of factors
that play into it in order to perfect it. If you would like to
see the mechanics of the move I would suggest seeing the video
above. The idea of the move is to fake out the last defender by
planting a jab step one way and then explode onto your other foot so
you can then get off a layup. Doing the move however is just not
enough to get the easy basket. You must see which ever side the
defender is leaning to, once you establish that in your head you must
plant the jab foot in that direction and then execute the move how you
normally would.

In particular, Manu Ginobili and Dwyane Wade are spectacular at
executing the euro step (1,2 step). Both of these players are
able to think on the dime and know exactly when to use the move.
Also, they both have the athleticism to really execute the move very
well.

Behind the Scenes look on Carmelo and The KnicksPosted by:
aarongolden | February 28, 2011

In a sense, this trade was beneficial to both teams. Although it
may seem like the Knicks lost a little too much to get Anthony, it is
important to reiterate the fact that Billups is still an exceptional
player and that the purpose of the trade was to rebuild.

More often than not when one team acquires a
superstar there is bound to be success. Carmelo will definitely
take the Knicks to the next level. Carmelo Anthony has a per of
21.28 and is an extremely prolific scorer averaging 25.2 points per
game. On the offensive side the Knicks should be great.
They have arguably the two best forwards in the league as well as
Billups. Although the Knicks have two superstars, there are going
to be a lot of kinks to work out. It is going to take time for
the overall team chemistry to build as does for any trade. Not
only that, the Knicks normal fast pace game is going to be slowed down
dramatically with Anthony looking to play one on one whenever he
can. Also, because the Knicks gave up some valuable assets in the
trade, most games are going to come down to whether Stoudemire and
Anthony played well. Excluding Billups, I can’t think of another
descent scoring option, unlike when the Knicks had Felton, Gallinari,
and Chandler who could all score on any given night.

Though this trade may have its downs, the Knicks are
still benefitting from the trade nonetheless. For one, the Knicks
brought in much experience by acquiring the veteran Billups and
superstar Carmelo Anthony. Offensively speaking the Knicks have
nothing to worry about. Stoudemire can overpower opponents on the
post and Carmelo can play out on the wing or work his way inside.
Also, Chauncey will complement these two scores extremely well.
Billups with his precise three point and ability to penetrate and dish
will really open up the floor for Stoudemire and Anthony. With
these weapons on the offense, the Knicks will really be able to pack a
punch and could start climbing up on the playoff ladder.

It is important to know, that this trade was merely the second stage of
rebuilding for the Knicks. This current lineup is not the full
championship piece. The Knicks still lack a dominant center and
are weak on the defensive end. The Knicks are still developing
but should definitely be able to make a noise in the playoffs this year.

Atlanta- A Team Not to OverlookPosted by:
aarongolden | February 7, 2011

Atlanta
is right on the tail end of some of the best teams in the league.
With a staggering record of 33-18, they have shown they can hang with
other championship caliber teams. Atlanta continues to improve as
a team each year and will look to build even more throughout the
2010-2011 season.

Though shy of a superstar, the Atlanta Hawks really remind me of the
2003-3004 Pistons. Similar to the Pistons team of Chauncey
Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Tayshaun
Prince, Atlanta seems to really emulate after them. Atlanta has
many fine players which really piece together to make a great team.

Like Billups, Joe Johnson is the leader of this
team. With his much experience and profound ability to score he
has established a strong base for the Atlanta Hawks.
Complementing his talents are a few other great players such as Al
Horford, Josh Smith, and Jamal Crawford. Now, with Al Horford
transitioning out of the beginning stages of his careers he is now
playing an elemental role on the Hawks. Bound to make his first
All-star appearance, Horford is averaging 16.2 points per game along
with a monstrous 9.9 rebounds per game as well as preforming solid in
every other category. In addition, Josh Smith is another key
player. He is similar to Ben Wallace in a way for they both have
outstanding defense. Smith averages almost 2 blocks per game and
has a per of 19.07. Along with his great defense Smith has the
ability to dish out assists and average 16.3 points per
game. Lastly, I would compare Jamal Crawford to Richard
Hamilton. Their games both consist of a strong offense, relying
primarily on their jump shots.

As you can see, talent is built all around the
Atlanta Hawks. And this is going to separate them from most
playoff teams. For example, if you look back at last year, the
Cavs lost to the Celtics in the playoffs because when Lebron couldn’t
find his game he had no teammates that could step up and lead them past
the opposition. However, because Atlanta is so well balanced they will
never have to worry about this problem. As long as the Hawks work
cohesively and find the right guy the Hawks will succeed.

Bottom Line- The Hawks will finish with a record of 57-25 and I wouldn’t be surprised if they won a big playoff game or two.